


Without The Bastard Orphan

by IvyBel



Series: The Added Lines [1]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Emotional Manipulation, F/M, Gen, because he's important to the timeline and introduces the story nicely, character and alex are in a relationship but it is not healthy at all, i haven't updated these tags in a year oh god, minor cameo from alan turing from the imitation game in prologue, not rated because i can't rate things use your best judgement basically, outsider messes up the timeline and the title tells all, please don't judge based on the fact it's another timeline thingy and has an 'oc' in it, suggestions are always welcome
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-15
Updated: 2018-06-05
Packaged: 2018-09-17 15:27:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 11,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9331475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IvyBel/pseuds/IvyBel
Summary: One added event, and Alexander Hamilton never met Aaron Burr. He never met John Laurens, he never met Marquis de Lafayette, he never met Hercules Mulligan, George Washington, the Schuyler sisters. He never joined the Revolution, never spoke up, never rose up, creating a chain of events that would forever change history. Without the bastard orphan, nothing is the same.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there! This idea stemmed from one day where I thought to myself, "Wow, I wonder what would've happened without Alexander Hamilton," and then I let the idea simmer for a while. I decided that I wanted to make a series like this, with an outsider messing things up and the characters inside needing to overcome them and set things right, whether they know about the mess up or not. Alexander in this one is definitely going to fall into the former category (well, unless I change something major), and while things might not be set completely right by the time the story has ended...well, I'll let the chapters do the talking. As of now, I am still deciding a major plot point of the story which should resolve itself when I write more into it, right now I am warning about possible minor abuse later on. It will probably not be too too bad, but if I choose to go that way, then it will definitely be there, it will be a plot point that is unavoidable. I'm still ironing out the kinks and holes, but I hope you enjoy this prologue anyway! Cheers!

“I’m booooored.”

 

“How fascinating. Let me work.”

 

The outline groaned, stretching across their mutual’s devices. “I’m booooooored,” They repeated, glancing at the other to gauge his reaction.

 

The man was less than amused, and probably would have thrown the tool in his hand at them if he hadn’t known it would probably miss and end up hitting one of his creations. “Don’t you have anything better to do than lie there and bug me?” He said venomously, having had enough of this creatures shenanigans for several lifetimes.

 

“No, that’s the prooooooblemmmmm!”

 

“Stop elongating your words, you sound like an idiot.”

 

“What’s wrong with thaaaaaat?”

 

“A self proclaimed ‘destroyer of worlds’ should not sound like an idiot.”

 

“1, I’m not a destroyer of worlds, at least most of the time. 2, If I was a destroyer of worlds, I would not be just self proclaimed. 3, I’ll have you know that a destroyer of worlds who’s an idiot is much more terrifying that one that isn’t. And 4, don’t you keep saying I’m a figment of your imagination?”

 

“Hm?” The man had stopped paying attention after halfway through 2. “Well, I figured I’d humor you.”

 

The non-destroyer of worlds huffed, still not successful in their endeavors to break the man or even get into that head of his. But that was another story for another time. Unfortunately, those memories only served to remind the creature of how bored they were once again.

 

“...boooooored.”

 

“For god’s sake--” The man slammed the tool down. “Then go do something! I can’t think with all your whining and moaning!”

 

“...fiiiine.” The figure didn’t move, but stayed quiet, at least for right then.

 

The man took a deep breath, picking up his tool again and walking over to the machine where the other, now watching the ceiling with temporary feigned interest, was resting on. “...move.”

 

“Huh? Why?”

 

“I need to tweak something, move.”

 

“...naaaaaah.”

 

The man clenched his teeth, feeling the anger rise up in his chest once again. “Move. Now.”

 

“Make me.” Even an outsider would be able to tell that they were grinning, despite the fact their mouth was rarely visible.

 

“I--” The man once again took a deep breath, giving the impression he was regaining his composure. He then reached out slowly...and shoved the creature off of his machine.

 

“AHHH WHAT THE FUCK?!”

 

The creature had not been expecting the usually restrained man to actually make him. “Turing, what the fuck?!”

 

Alan Turing gave a small smug smile despite himself and began to work on his precious creation.

 

“I should’ve killed you.”

 

“Mhmm.” Turing was no longer paying attention, having been sucked back into his world of metal and gears.

 

The sulking creature took up residence on Turing’s workbench, knowing at this point they’d best stay out of his way while he was actively working, he might hit them or something. They started humming to themselves, which turned into quiet singing and rapping.

 

Turing looked over after finishing that tiny thing he’d been obsessing about, and couldn’t resist engaging them despite his better judgement. “What in the hell are you doing?”

 

The outline stopped mid-sentence, glancing over, mildly and somewhat pleasantly surprised. “I’m rapping.”

 

“What even is--never mind.”

 

“It’s like singing but cooler.”

 

“I said never mind...alright, what are you ‘rapping?’”

 

“Hamilton.”

 

“...ah. I shouldn’t have asked.”

 

“It’s a musical that hasn’t been invented yet.”

 

“I see.”

 

“It’s about Alexander Hamilton, if you couldn’t guess.”

 

“Mhmm.”

 

“You’ve completely tuned me out, haven’t you?”

 

“Mm.”

 

They sent a long glare at Turing, who was already onto more work, to which they muttered, “Why do you write like you’re running out of time…?” and chuckled, bemused at their own joke, lying back against the desk.

 

Turing was muttering to himself about his work, feverishly writing things down in a way he’d probably need to decipher later, when he was interrupted by a loud screech followed by an even louder, “I’VE GOT IT!!”

 

“JESUS!” Turing’s hand shot to his heart and he whipped around, facing the figure who was now standing on the desk. “What on Earth--?!”

 

“I’ve got it!” They shouted, a bit quieter but still not apologizing for the almost heart attack given to the one person they had long given up trying to hate.

 

“What in the blazes do you have?!”

 

“An idea!” They jumped off the desk. “Hamilton! The perfect timeline to fuck around with! Oh, the possibilities!”

 

Turing pulled himself together enough to shoot the other a glare. “And you interrupted me to tell me this because…?”

 

Now it was the creature’s turn to be spaced out. They paced around the room, not listening in the slightest. “Now, what should I do? Kill someone? No, Hamilton already dies. And Laurens. And Philip. And mother Theodosia. Hmmm…”

 

Turing sighed, slowly turning back his work, hoping that a second screech wasn’t imminent, his heart just beginning to slow down again.

 

“Man, history’s done a lot of my usual work already. I’ll have to mix it up. Let’s see, what would be fun…? What would...change everything?” As the creature thought through this line of thought, the answer gradually came to them.

 

“...Hamilton. Hamilton changes everything. Hell, there are forty six songs basically about him. Take away him, and you change everything.” They chuckled to themselves, as Alan Turing sensed that he was about to be alone once again, even as deep in his work as he was. “Time to add a new player into the game.” The outline clicked their tongue, the self proclaimed fucker up of worlds floating off the ground in the midst of this new energy and lack of boredom.

 

“Time for Hamilton to throw away his shot.”


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Hamilton meets someone.

The nineteen year old hopped off the boat excitedly, looking around at his surroundings. New York, he was finally here. He smiled, this was it. This was where he’d make his mark.

 

His eyes happened to fall on someone he recognized, whose name he’d heard many names. That man had graduated in two years, something the young man was in awe of and longed to do. Even after a certain...incident...nothing could stop him from serving his country, nothing.

 

The young man started towards him, beaming and nervous. “Pardon m--oof!” The man suddenly had the wind knocked out of him as something slammed into him, knocking him to the ground.

 

“Oh, pardon me!”

 

Or as it happened, someone. “Yo, watch where you’re going!” He snapped, ignoring the hand outstretched to help him and getting up on his own, becoming face to face with a woman.

 

She looked around his age, and had short hair that seemed to wave over itself and fell across her right eye. She looked sheepish and embarrassed about having knocked the man over, especially when he had been about to say something too.

 

“I just got too bold, I guess running around here was bound to get me into trouble sooner or later, hehe..” She looked at the ground, her eyes downcast.

 

The man considered himself courteous, so he dispelled his anger. That, and she seemed to be an interesting and attractive woman, not meaning any harm. “That’s okay miss, no harm no foul. My name is Alexander Hamilton.” He gave a little bow, and the woman giggled.

 

“Henrietta Carr, sir,” She gave Alexander a curtsy and smiled. “But people call me Ettie. Mind if I buy you a drink? It’s the least I can do for knocking you over.”

 

“I thought it was the man who usually bought the drinks,” Alexander teased playfully.

 

Ettie responded with a grin, “Well, are you asking me now?”

 

Alexander briefly glanced over at where he’d seen the man he had previously wanted to talk to, finding that there was now just a regular swarm of people, not one of them standing out. He looked back at the woman, who was still waiting for his response.

 

Alexander Hamilton, being ever the flirt and romantic, took her hand and kissed it, smiling up at her. “I’d love to.”

 

Ettie took his arm in hers. “Good, I know a place on the other side of town.”

 

“Well, lead the way.” 

 

* * *

 

“Well, if it ain’t the prodigy of Princeton college!”

 

“Aaron Burr!”

 

“Drop some knowledge!”

 

Aaron Burr rolled his eyes. “Good luck with takin’ a stand. You spit, I’ll sit, we’ll see where we land.”

 

The other three men booed, as Burr rolled his eyes again.

 

John Laurens leaned back. “Burr, the revolution’s imminent. What do you stall for?”

 

There was a long uncomfortable pause that all four men could feel, like there was supposed to be an answer or something.

 

The silence was finally broken by Burr. “Talk less, smile more,” He bluntly stated, taking another drink. The revolutionary men turned back to themselves, muttering to each other, noticeably not as loud.

 

* * *

 

Ettie laughed as Alexander recounted a story about the ship ride to New York, where a tough looking man had thrown up on the first day.

 

“So, where’s your family from?” Alexander asked afterwards, the question having been bugging him a bit ever since seeing her running around a busy harbor during the day.

 

“My father is a landowner, my mother died when I was a little girl.” She smiled, with a sad twinge to her voice and expression.

 

“Your mother died?”

 

“Mhmm.”

 

“Mine did too! I’m an orphan!” Alexander became increasingly excited by this revelation.

 

Ettie beamed, and Alexander felt something special about the fact that she didn’t care about his being an orphan, which also meant he had nothing. And this, this was a higher person of society exploring a harbor, watching the ships come in and out! Obviously, they were both made for something greater, right?!

 

“I like to write!” He blurted out, wanting to know her opinion on something he held so dear.

 

“Oh?” She looked over again, and Alexander felt his heart race a little, waiting for her response.

 

“I like to do a bit of writing myself. It truly is the one true expression of the soul.” She smiled.

 

Alexander, being given this piece of positive feedback, continued before he could be stopped, “And I don’t have anything but a few college credits and my writing but I’m going to join the revolution and I’m going to make a difference and America is going to be free and and--”

 

“Wooooah, slow down, soldier.” Ettie laughed, tensing up the tiniest bit at the mention of joining the revolution, though Alexander didn’t notice. If he had, he would have noticed her forced smile too. “I’m sure you are, dear. Say, it’s getting dark soon, do you mind walking me home?”

 

“Of course not!” Alexander stood up quickly, offering his arm to her, which she took with another smile. Alexander was glad that he’d run into this woman, (or really that this woman had run into him), and they walked out. He was talking excitedly about the future, and she was quiet.

 

* * *

 

The three men were quiet that night, simply drinking and thinking to themselves, before Hercules Mulligan gruffly proclaimed, “Since when does Burr know anything about the Revolution? Since when does Burr know anything about us?!”

 

The other two halfheartedly chimed in their agreements.

 

“Come on you guys! We gotta keep bein’ confident! The revolution’s gonna happen!”

 

“...anyone feel like something’s missing?” Laurens suddenly said, having tuned out Mulligan in favor of his thoughts.

 

“Besides your morale?” Mulligan muttered, taking another drink, but turning the question over in his mind.

 

Marquis de Lafayette nodded. “Oui…”

 

There was another period of silence where each man was trying to figure it out, then each gave up one by one.

 

“Let’s have another round tonight.” Mulligan said, finally giving up on upping the mood.

 

“To the three of us…” Lafayette raised his glass, and the other two followed suit.

 

“Tomorrow they’ll be more of us…” Laurens sighed, clinking glasses with his friends as a dark cloud spread over the table like wildfire.

 

The men drank in silence.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all, I actually updated! So this is the first chapter, and as you can see (or maybe not, which is why I'm telling you), this chapter basically encompasses "Aaron Burr, Sir" "My Shot" and "The Story of Tonight." I imagine in later chapters they'll be less songs in each chapter, "My Shot" was really short because without Hamilton it was...sort of...pointless... and my goal for each chapter is at least 800 words, so I ended up throwing 3 songs in there. Anyway, the later chapters will diverge from the songs, but for now they coincide. ALSO, song lyrics have been changed to be less rhyme-y and more like dialogue, because I reeeally don't imagine them suddenly breaking into songs. I have also decided which direction I want to go with this character, and thus the abuse tag will turn into an emotional manipulation tag. I admittedly had quite a bit of fun writing this chapter, so I hope you enjoyed it. Cheers!


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Ettie and Alexander accidentally run into a certain group of sisters.

They certainly were an odd pair, walking around New York. This outing had been Ettie’s idea, but Alexander had been perfectly happy to go along with it, and they made pleasant conversation as they walked.

 

Alexander was talking about the revolution, and Ettie was nodding along, pointing out things on the street, eventually giving up on changing the subject.

 

As Alexander talked, Ettie suddenly heard something from someone as they passed by; “...hear about the Schuyler sisters roaming around the city?”

 

“Mhmm, just another rich family slummin’ it with the poor…”

 

Ettie tightened her grip on Alexander’s arm, causing him to trail off at the end of his sentence and glance over at her. “Something wrong, Ettie?”

 

Ettie quickly looked at him, smiling. “Of course not, dear.”

 

Alexander disregarded the incident and picked his words up where he’d left off, and was oblivious as Ettie scanned the streets, searching for a certain trio. They turned a corner.

 

There they were. The Schuyler sisters. They were talking to a man Ettie recognized as one Aaron Burr. Well, the eldest was doing most of the talking, it looked like. She hoped Alexander was too into thoughts about his future to notice.

 

Alexander noticed. He slowed to a stop. “Hey, there’s Mr. Burr!” Alexander had talked about Aaron Burr to Ettie that very day as a matter of fact, and it was a miracle that he’d seen him again after that day at the harbor. He started to grow a bit excited at the prospect of finally talking to him. He took a few steps in that direction, before he felt a squeeze on his arm. “Huh?” He turned.

 

Ettie was looking less than pleased, even though she was trying not to look it.

 

“What?” Alexander asked confused, not really sure of the reason for this odd change of behavior and not putting the dots together quick enough.

 

She pursed her lips. “Dear, do we really have to go over there?”

 

Alexander hesitated, glancing at Burr again. “Well, I…”

 

“You don’t think those girls are prettier than me, do you?”

 

“N...no, of course not! I’m not even going over there to talk to them!” He quickly said, not wanting this misunderstanding to escalate any further.

 

Ettie gave him a hurt look, not looking convinced in the slightest.

 

“I…” Alexander glanced between the group of four and Henrietta, and found himself needing to make a choice; his shot or the woman he...loved. And with his window to talk to Burr closing and Ettie getting more and more annoyed by the second, he needed to think fast. He weighed his opinions, and…

 

“...okay, let’s go...”

 

If he saw Aaron Burr a third time, he’d talk to him then, and there was always time to create a legacy for himself. He wanted to make Ettie happy, didn’t want her to feel helpless as he went off to talk to that other group of girls while they were supposed to be on an outing together. So he allowed himself to be dragged off by Ettie, taking one last glance at Burr, who was walking away, before looking back at the street in front. He didn’t look at the woman on his arm, instead ignoring the feeling of regret rising inside of him.  
  


 

Unfortunately, the two had not gone unnoticed. Elizabeth Schuyler watched them out of the corner of her eye, and when they finally started to walk away she fully turned her head to watch. There was a woman, with a rather attractive looking man that she assumed was her husband, and something about him made Eliza almost wish she was that woman. She knew she shouldn’t stare, but she couldn’t bring herself to look away, she had an unusual sense of longing.

 

If she had been really paying attention instead of in her own thoughts, she might’ve been less startled when the woman looked at her after noticing her gaze.

 

The woman’s face briefly was one of surprise, then one of pure rage. If looks could kill, Eliza would have been dead many times over. Eliza hadn’t even done anything, and this woman looked like she’d had several affairs with her husband and then killed her family, that was the look that this woman was giving her. Eliza was frozen, she wasn’t sure what she should do, she wasn’t sure what she could do. This woman’s gaze was absolutely petrifying.

 

The woman finally broke the lock on her glare when her husband and her turned a corner, and it was as if a spell had been broken. Eliza blinked, not sure if the last few seconds had been real or a product of her imagination.

 

“Eliza? Ready to keep movin’?”

 

Eliza turned to her sister, and she’s must’ve looked a bit pale, because it prompted Angelica to look slightly worried and ask, “You okay?”

 

It took a moment, and then Eliza shook her head and smiled, tucking her hair behind her ear again and softly saying, “Yes, yes, I’m fine, just...I’m fine, let’s go.”

 

“But guysssss--!” Peggy whined, about to mention again about how they shouldn’t have been there.

  
“Let’s go check out the square again!” Angelica declared, starting up her pace again, and Peggy followed despite her protests. Eliza followed, shaking her head once again, doing her best to brush off the event. It was nothing, she would probably never even see those two again, there was no use dwelling on them. Still, Elizabeth Schuyler couldn’t help but feel a sense of loss for something she never owned and an emotion somewhat akin to heartbreak.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we are at The Schuyler Sisters! I wanted Hamilton to see them again, to have one more shot...and to throw it away once again. This is on the shorter side, but I have a special plan for Farmer Refuted, so that should be one of the longer ones, and it will be one of the first times Ettie shows her true colors, and, well, you'll see. Hope you enjoy the chapter, cheers!


	4. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the revolutionary men watch as two men go head to head in a battle of roasting.

“Hear ye, hear ye! My name is Samuel Seabury, and I present ‘Free Thoughts on the Proceedings of the Continental Congress!’”

 

The four men slowed and looked through the sea of people, as the man began stating his claims about the evils of the revolution, much to the annoyance of every supporter there.

 

“Oh my god, tear this dude apart.” Mulligan gestured to Seabury, as if the other three weren’t already watching.

 

“Think me not too severe. Anarchy and confusion, violence and oppression distress my country, and I must and will speak!”

 

“Let him be,” Burr sighed, although none of the other men had moved to stop him, they weren’t walking away anymore either, instead regarding Seabury with a mix of disgust and anger.

 

“O Shame! Shame! Shame!”

 

“Yo!”

 

Suddenly a man was up there with him, debating his every point, mocking him, addressing the crowd of people with unrivaled enthusiasm and etiquette.

 

After a moment of processing, the revolutionaries began to laugh and grin, looking at each other like, ‘Can you believe this guy?’ They didn’t know who this man was or where he’d come from, but they were loving every goddamn second.

 

“For shame!”

 

“For the revolution!”

 

“For shame!”

 

Supporters in the crowd yelled “FOR THE REVOLUTION!” with the man this time, including the three men who were arguably the loudest of them all. 

 

Burr almost cringed when the man hopped onto the soapbox with Seabury, who was beginning to sweat and back off a little, mostly because the man wasn’t even letting him get more than a word in. Whenever Seabury said something, it was immediately cut off and preyed upon. The other three men were laughing their asses off. Burr didn’t chime in, because it was really none of his business, but this man was going to get himself in trouble sooner or later.

 

“Why should a tiny island across the sea regulate the price of tea?”

 

“ALEXANDER!”

 

It turned out Burr was more right than he’d thought he’d be. A woman stormed into the circle so violently that Burr almost wondered if they were about to witness a homicide. The crowd was startled into silence, as if holding it’s breath.

 

The man froze. “Ettie, I--”

 

“‘I’ll be right back,’ he said! You told me you were just going on a walk!” She shouted at him, as if she didn’t notice anyone else there, “And I start getting worried and come looking for you and you’re in the middle of this mess!”

 

The man looked at the ground, and even Burr couldn’t help but think this was unfair. The man couldn’t have been there for more than a few minutes at most, and his wife (Burr assumed she was his wife) was yelling at him as if he had been there for hours.

 

The man once again tried to say something, and his wife once again ignored him and continued screaming accusations at him. Burr compared it to Seabury and the man’s back and forth. The former had been admittedly clever on the man’s part and definitely brought Seabury down quite a few notches, this was just a slaughter in comparison, no clever wording involved. At least Seabury had tried to defend himself, this man was just halfheartedly stuttering things that fell on deaf ears.

 

The crowd started to disperse, everyone feeling uncomfortable with this situation and wanting to be far, far away. Burr looked away from the spectacle, my god she was still going, and looked at the other three men. They looked just as uncomfortable as everyone else, if not more, with something close to anger in their expressions as they watched this woman yell at her husband for helping a cause he supported for a few damn minutes.

 

“...let’s go,” Burr said somewhat quietly, not really wanting the woman to hear him and have her voice turned on him.

 

The three man reluctantly agreed, the four began to walk away.

  
They went for a minute or two without talking, then of course Mulligan had to comment on the event that had just happened before their eyes. “That was bullshit!”

 

“He was pretty good against Seabury,” Laurens pointed out.

 

“Oui. He was well worded.”

 

“But then that devil woman showed up out of nowhere and started chewin’ him out!” The woman had obviously angered Mulligan more than the others. Not that she didn’t anger them, but Laurens and Lafayette were more in pity of the man than anything, being yelled and torn down at in front of that huge crowd would severely damage anyone’s self esteem.

 

“Yo Burr, what do you think?”

 

Burr had been walking in silence, offering no opinion on the matter. He still didn’t want to, but finally he turned to Laurens and stated, “If he hadn’t gotten involved, he wouldn’t have gotten yelled at by his wife.”

 

“Whaaaaat, you’re blaming him?!” If Laurens wasn’t angry before, he was at least ticked off now.

 

“Burr, you saw that woman, she obviously had it out for him! She probably would’ve yelled at him even if he hadn’t done anything!” Mulligan argued, his anger now directed at Burr, for making this whole thing about his “talk less, smile more” crap, and what was even worse was that in the end, he was right.

 

Lafayette, not possessing the level of English needed to express all the emotions he felt, simply said, “It is a bit unfair.”

 

“It’s completely unfair!” Mulligan was yelling now, his voice carrying down the street.

 

Burr rolled his eyes and refused to comment more on the issue.

 

Lafayette reflected on something as Laurens and Mulligan ranted on; the woman. Something about her wasn’t quite right, but he couldn’t for the life of him figure out what it was.

 

The angry ranting started to die down, until Mulligan finally said, “...can we all agree that he should be with someone else though?”

 

“Yeah, someone more...passionate.”

 

“Oui, more articulate and clever.”

 

“Someone who actually supports the revolution,” Mulligan added, earning a few chuckles. Even Burr gave a little nod, though not adding anything to the conversation and thus not being noticed.

  
The conversation shifted from the topic of the demon housewife onto more pressing matters, like where they were going to go next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Farmer Refuted! This one was fun to write! The things Samuel Seabury says are quotes from the actual "Free Thoughts on the Proceedings of the Continental Congress," slightly modified to fit in the form of dialogue better. While it's only a bit longer than the last one, I decided to only encompass one song, since You'll Be Back and Right Hand Man go nicely together. Also, don't think this is the last you'll see of those three, Hamilton may not know them but they'll be able to offer their perspective on Hamilton-free events! I'm looking forward to writing the war chapters, wooooah boy. I hope you enjoyed, cheers!
> 
> P.S. I edited this author's note twice. I am sad writer.


	5. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Alexander almost makes a stand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Actually important (sort of) notes at the bottom! When you finish reading of course, don't skip to the end-

King George the Third hummed to himself as he walked through the hallways, not a care in the world. He’d just gotten word about the revolution happening in the colonies, but he wasn’t worried. They were just ungrateful subjects. They wouldn’t survive on their own, and the King knew that very well.

 

Still, it would be annoying to lose them, and if King George had to send a fully armed battleton to remind them of his love, he would gladly would.

 

If they started a war, King George was going to win it. He was going to keep his colonies, and they would soon realize they were better off under him than trying to form a country from scratch all by themselves.

 

“You’ll be back.” He chuckled to himself, and continued humming happily as he went to his next meeting.

* * *

 

The American troops waited.

 

“Not a lot of people, is there?” Laurens muttered, looking around.

 

“Compared to the British, uh, no. But we have plenty!” Mulligan tried to not let the mood fall again, it had taken so long to get it back up again the first time.

 

“We have enough,” Lafayette agreed, also looking around at their surroundings, before someone called out;

 

“Here comes the general!”

  


 

“Alexander dear, dinner’s ready!”

 

Alexander quickly stuffed the papers in his desk and stood up. “Coming!” He knew Ettie would get upset if he wasn’t there in the next two minutes, and if there was one thing he didn’t want to do, it was make his wife upset.

 

As he ate at the table, making average boring conversation, he felt a question bubble up in his throat. He tried to push it down, then wondered why. Why was he holding himself back? Ettie didn’t seem to like this kind of thing, sure, but there was no reason he couldn’t share it, right? He was still eventually going to make a name for himself.

 

“...did you...did you hear about Howe’s troops?”

 

“Hm?” Ettie looked up at him.

 

“British Admiral Howe’s got troops on the water…”

 

“What about it?” Ettie gave him a smile than even Alexander could tell was forced.

 

“Well...I mean…”

 

“You don’t really want to fight, do you?”

 

The brief sparkle in his eyes at the thought of fighting the British must have given it away, because Ettie put her fork down and sighed. “Dear, we’ve talked about this. You can’t go off and fight, you have a family now.”

 

‘Yeah, I remember, you did most of the talking,’ Alexander thought bitterly to himself, saying out loud, “But…”

 

“No buts. You can’t go off and get yourself killed. You don’t want to leave me all alone, do you?” Ettie shot him a helpless and pathetic look.

 

Alexander felt guilty but managed to blurt out, “But it’s the only way to rise up!” He stood up out of habit, as he did whenever he made declarations.

 

Ettie stood as well and regarded him with a surprising amount of coldness. “I’m sure George Washington can win without you.”

 

Alexander almost flinched. That one hurt, especially coming from someone he held so dear.

 

Immediately Ettie seemed to realize how that sounded and softened, still somewhat tense but back in control of her anger.

 

“...I’m...I’m going back to work.” Alexander started to quickly head back to his office, before feeling something grab his arm. He almost didn’t want to, but he turned to look at his wife.

 

Ettie looked panicked and desperate, and held his arm tightly. “Don’t you want to meet your daughter?!”

 

Alexander froze. “My...what?” He wasn’t sure if he’d just heard right, did she say…?

 

“Your daughter. I’m...I’m pregnant.”

 

He blinked. “How long have you known?!”

 

“Not long,” Ette admitted, smiling a little. “You’re gonna be a daddy.”

 

Alexander took a moment, then suddenly pulled her into hug, tears forming in his eyes, smiling from ear to ear. “This...this is great!”

 

Ettie hugged her husband, laughing.

 

“What are we gonna name her? We could name her after you!” Alexander was getting more and more excited by the second, and was beaming already at the thought.

 

His wife giggled. “Slow down, we have plenty of time!” She glanced outside. “It’s getting dark…”

 

Alexander picked up on the hint and let her go. “Yes, yes, I’ll be right in there soon, I just have to write some things down!” His eyes twinkled with a renewed spark that hadn’t been seen for a good long while.

 

Ettie poked him playfully. “You aren’t going to start writing down baby names, are you?”

 

“Maaaaaaybe.” Alexander grinned and quickly went into his office, not even bothering to close the door fully behind him.

 

“Don’t stay up too late!” Ettie called to him, not receiving a response, and assumed he was already writing.

  
Henrietta Hamilton went to the bedroom and sat on the bed, sighing in annoyance, and mentally ran down the list of doctors she could blackmail to vouch on the miscarriage of her nonexistent child.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You'll Be Back and Right Hand Man, coming right at 'cha! This one was one of the harder ones to write, but it was all worth it since that ending was a blast (y'know, like a cannon? Haha...ha...)!
> 
> Okay, so, I promised important notes, and here they are; right now, my update schedule is once or twice a day. That's INSANE, considering each chapter is at least 3 pages and I don't write these in advance, all chapters you see are posted a few minutes after I finish editing them. Frankly, I didn't realize how much people would enjoy this story, and most of all how much I'd enjoy writing it. Hell, I spend most of my day working on this thing, simply because I want to! However, I feel if I keep this schedule for the entirety of the story, I'm going to burn out. For now, I'll stay to this update schedule, because I like it and I think you guys like it too, but here's my question.
> 
> If and when the schedule changes, what day(s) would you want it to update on? I'm thinking once or twice a week, so basically what day or days do you need/want your Without The Bastard Orphan fill for the week?
> 
> Anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter (I know y'all probably just LOVE Ettie right now), cheers!


	6. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Hamilton makes a new friend.

Alexander walked through the streets alone. He usually walked with Ettie, but he had found an excuse to walk alone that night. He knew that Ettie was still distressed about her miscarriage, but Alexander wasn’t good with that sort of thing. He needed space to think while that seemed to be the opposite of what his wife needed, which was attention. He knew he should think about his wife’s needs before his own, but honestly, he just needed the alone time. It had been a long time since Alexander had been alone with his thoughts, just walking and thinking for himself.

  
  
  


Burr recognized the man immediately, even though it had been a rather long time since he’d seen his face. If anything, Burr could tell it was him from the dejected and guilty expression on his face, the same one he’d worn when his wife was attacking him. At first, Burr almost wanted to go up to him as he walked, to ask him about his wife, to ask him about himself, how no one else tended to jump into random debates with people. In the end, he decided not to. It was really none of his business, and the man didn’t really look like he wanted to talk anyway.

 

“Yo Burr, what are you looking at out here? All the ladies are inside, y’know.”

 

Burr spun around, attempting to give the impression that he had not been looking at anything, nothing at all, so that Laurens didn’t recognize the man and do what Burr knew he would do.

 

“Hey, is that…?!”

 

Aaron Burr was not a very lucky man, as it turned out.

 

Laurens grinned excitedly. “We can finally go meet him!”

 

“No,” Burr said sternly.

 

“Fine then, stay over here, but I’m going to go talk to him,” Laurens shot a short glare at Burr, “And I’ll prove the hole in your “talk less, smile more” motto!”

 

“But--!”

 

The other was already on his way over there. Burr took a step to follow, curiosity killing him, but he hesitated. It really wasn’t his business, but still...no. No, he wouldn’t. There were plenty more people to interact with inside, people that were less...dynamic. Besides, this man gave him a weird feeling that he just couldn’t place. So, Aaron Burr turned from the two already starting a conversation, and left.

  
  
  


“Hey there!”   
  


Alexander’s train of thought was suddenly snapped. He looked up at the man apparently addressing him. “Uh...hi.”

 

“I saw you going toe to toe with Seabury that one day! You were awesome!”

 

Alexander tensed as his mind flashed back to that day. “T...thanks…”

 

“Your wife was really messed up to yell at you like that.”

 

“D-don’t talk about my wife like that!”

 

“Ah, sorry, it’s just something me and the guys have been talking about.” The excited man held his hand out with a grin. “I’m John Laurens.”

 

“Alexander Hamilton.” He shook with Laurens, relaxing a little. “So you’re a revolutionary?”

 

Laurens nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, yeah! And you are too, I bet!”

 

“Of course, was there any doubt?” Alexander chuckled with a bit of a cocky grin, glad to finally be meeting another one of his kind.

 

“I thought I’d see you when we were with the rest of the troops!”

 

His smile faded a bit. “I’m...I’m not fighting.”

 

“What? Why not? Don’t tell me you see Burr’s philosophy.” Laurens looked almost disappointed at the thought.

 

Alexander didn’t even know what ‘Burr’s philosophy’ entailed. “My wife won’t let me…”

 

Laurens’ eyes flashed with understanding, and he glanced around. “She here right now?”

 

“No...why?”

 

Laurens broke out into a wide grin and grabbed Alexander’s arm.

 

“W-wha--?!”

 

“Tonight, you’re gonna be a true rebel! There’s a winter’s ball going on, and I’m sure your wife won’t miss you for an hour or so. Besides, I have some friends who’d love to meet you!”

 

Alexander glanced behind him, where his home was, where his wife was. Ettie didn’t have to know, right? She would assume that he had stayed out a bit longer, just walking around. She didn’t have to know he went to this thing, met this man, anything. He’d go to this ball, go back home, and go to sleep with his wife. This finally was his chance, his chance to do something! He might be able to make a difference! Not a huge difference maybe, but a difference, and he was willing for anything at this point.

 

Laurens was already pulling him towards the door when Hamilton answered.

 

“Okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A Winter's Ball! Told you those guys would be back! I know this chapter is way shorter than normal, but I realized that if I added Helpless in here, it would be way way too long. So yeah, this is actually an event with Hamilton in it! It won't end in the same way, of course, but it's the thought that counts! Next is Helpless and Satisfied, where a set of sisters return! I don't have anything else to say here, so I hope you enjoyed, cheers!


	7. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Elizabeth Schuyler is completely helpless.

Eliza Schuyler laughed as her sister strut around the room, attracting the attention of every man in the room and smiling smugly. Eliza herself was also walking around, albeit less with the intention of getting gazes and more of just checking people out. Besides, with Angelica dominating the room it would be awhile before anyone noticed anyone else. Eliza didn’t mind, she had never been the type to try and grab the spotlight.

 

She happened to glance at the doorway just in time to see two men walk into the ballroom. She froze and her heart skipped a beat. That man...could it really be the same one? He looked uncomfortable and nervous, and as she stared at him, trying to catch his eye from the side of the ballroom, the woman’s glare suddenly flashed in her mind. She shuddered, but didn’t look away.

 

The other man practically dragged him over to another two rebels, and that’s when the man saw her. It was only a moment, and Eliza didn’t stick around to see his reaction, instead turning and quickly walking off into the crowd. Her heart was racing, and she wasn’t entirely sure why. She looked desperately around for Angelica, not able to pick her out. Suddenly the room seemed to grow in size, becoming more crowded and unbearable. It made her feel small, and Eliza decided she needed a break. She headed outside, sitting down and trying to collect her thoughts.

 

“Didn’t think I’d see you out here, Miss Schuyler.”

 

Eliza turned as one Aaron Burr sat beside her. “The same can be said for you.” She gave a polite smile.

 

Burr looked off into the street. “...but if I may, I think we might be out here for the same reason.”

 

The sister stayed quiet, but not thinking, just listening. Eliza was good at that.

 

Burr hesitated, then took her silence as a sign to continue. “That man...he’s strange, isn’t he?”

 

“He’s just a normal man…” Eliza muttered, not really arguing hard against him with this statement.

 

“Yes, but he has an air about him…” Burr trailed off.

 

Eliza knew what he was talking about. He had only seen the man a few times, but she had seen the fire in him. The idea that the nervous looking man could possess such a flame in his soul was almost laughable, but Eliza had seen it with her own two eyes. The spark that the man possessed was overwhelming, but strangely Eliza wasn’t afraid. Maybe it was the man’s quiet demeanor, but Eliza had felt, just for a moment, a sense of calm while looking at him. Like everything was going to be alright, like she could hold the flame in her hands and it wouldn’t burn her.

 

“I almost wanted to speak to him,” Eliza admitted, and Burr sighed.

 

“Laurens did, I’m assuming they got along alright.”

 

Eliza opened her mouth to say something, before being interrupted.

 

“Burr, you better not be harassing my sister out here.” Angelica crossed her arms, standing in the doorway.

 

“Of course not. If you’ll excuse me…” Burr stood up, and before Eliza could talk to him more, he was gone.

 

Angelica glanced at him as he walked past her, then focused her attention back on her sister. “People are missin’ ya inside.”

 

Eliza smiled. “I doubt that.”

 

“I mean it, people were askin’ about you! One looked pretty cute too.” Angelica’s eyes twinkled as she grinned.

 

Eliza laughed and took her sister’s hand to help her to her feet. “If you say so.”

 

“I do say so. I told him I’d get you for him, so here I am!”

 

A small amount of pink dusted Eliza’s cheeks, and she laughed. “Lead the way then!”

 

Angelica led Eliza through the crowd, the latter glancing around at the people they passed, wondering who in the world was asking about her instead of her sister.

 

“Here you are, sir! Take care of her now!”

 

Eliza looked forward, mouth open ready to say something, and was face to face with the flame.

 

“U-um, hello miss.” The man looked more awkward and out of place up close. Eliza saw a group of three behind him, obviously watching him with grins on their faces.

 

She glanced around for Angelica, and when she didn’t find her she looked back at the man and put on a smile. “Hello sir.”

 

Burr wasn’t lying when he said that the man gave off a strange aura. It was like he was holding something back--no, that something was holding him back. He gave off the impression he wanted to do anything but what he was doing now.

 

“I wanted to apologize, I think I spooked you back there.” The man smiled weakly, sheepish but trying not to show it.

 

Eliza’s heart was racing again, and she wanted to rip it out of her body. This shouldn’t be happening, it shouldn’t be doing this for a married man, but she felt helpless to stop it.

 

“No no, it’s fine.” Eliza must’ve looked on edge, because the man groaned.

 

“I’ve made it worse.”

 

“No of course not,” Eliza quickly said, trying to avoid looking into his eyes, avoid looking directly into the flame. She was almost afraid it would blind her.

 

“I’ve made it totally worse, now you’re creeped out.”

 

“I am not creeped out!”

 

The man sighed. “Sorry, sorry, I’m just…” He glanced around. “I didn’t plan on being here.”

 

“You didn’t?”

 

The man rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah, someone dragged me in here. I’m not even supposed to be here, my wife--” He stopped himself, but Eliza had already picked up on it.

 

“She doesn’t want you here.” It was more a statement than a question at this point.

 

The man hesitated, then nodded.

 

And then, Elizabeth Schuyler remembered the glare once again, but instead of scaring her, it made her angry. Eliza didn’t usually get angry, but this was a perfectly pleasant man who did not deserve a wife who was even capable of making a look such as that.

 

“Would you like to dance?” Eliza heard herself say, though not remembering when she made the decision to say it.

 

The man immediately tensed up, and his eyes narrowed at her.

 

“Just as friends, of course.” She held out her hand. She wanted to dance with him, even if she just told her heart she just wanted to spite that woman.

 

“...but...my wife…”

 

“Won’t mind if you dance with a lady who is politely asking you to because she hasn’t danced all night.” Eliza smiled.

 

“I...well...okay.” The man carefully took her hand and started to walk with her that way, still looking nervous, still glancing around the room as they walked.

 

“...what’s your name, sir?” Eliza decided now was as good as time as any to ask.

 

“A-Alexander Hamilton.”

 

“Elizabeth Schuyler. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” She smiled reassuringly, and looked into his eyes.

 

Elizabeth Schuyler was completely helpless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AND YOU THOUGHT I WOULDN'T UPDATE TODAY. HA.
> 
> This took a long while to write, and has a bit of a story behind it. Originally, Helpless and Satisfied was going to be one long mega chapter, but as you can see I decided against it. Satisfied has so much action, and the innocent Helpless wouldn't have blended well with it. Plus, like I said, this took a while for me to write (I didn't get to work on it during school like usual, I actually had to learn things), and if I had added Satisfied it would have taken another day at least to write, and I didn't tell you guys beforehand so it didn't seem fair.
> 
> I might take a small break after Satisfied to write out some chapters, so I'm not in a rush every day to finish one or two 3 page chapters, but I'll tell you if I do. Also, this story is going WICKEDLY fast because of the updates, so a break might be nice for pacing as well.
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoyed this (almost late) chapter, cheers!


	8. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there is an uninvited guest to the party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all! Before the chapter starts, I just wanted to say I'm trying to become more active on Tumblr! My url is masteroffeels, and you'll know it's me because IvyBel is in the description and my picture is an...ivy bell... I'll try to post updates on chapter progress, and if you have any questions about Without The Bastard Orphan or Added Lines you can drop them in my inbox. I might put some drabbles and sneak peeks there too, so follow if you would like. I'm going to be changing my Tumblr around to be more exciting, but for now, enjoy my crappy looking blog. Onto the chapter!

Angelica Schuyler watched them dance, not being able to look away as they moved and swayed with the beat of the music. It almost hurt to watch, but if Eliza was happy, her sister was...well, would act happy. She finally tore herself away from the scene in front of her, starting to head around once more.

 

She didn’t get very far before three young soldier boys ran up to her, looking panicked. She was about to ask what was wrong before it was answered for her. 

 

“Where’s Alexander?!”

 

Angelica didn’t miss a beat. “Over there, dancing with my sister.” She pointed and tried not to sound bitter, and if she failed the three didn’t seem to notice.

 

One of them began to say something feverishly in French, then stopped and managed to say in English, “Please distract that woman,” and pointed behind him. Before she knew it the men were tripping over themselves to run past her, and Angelica saw the woman she was going to be distracting.

 

Angelica would have picked out the woman even if the direction hadn’t been given to her, mainly because the woman was the only person there who looked like she was going to murder everyone. She was storming around, obviously looking for someone specific. Angelica felt her feet move towards her.

 

“Excuse me.”

 

The woman’s head snapped up, and Angelica plastered a smile on her face.

 

“Can I help you?”

 

The woman was tense, staring at her. She suddenly was smiling, and Angelica figured her thought process. ‘This is the host, act normal.’

 

“No thank you.” The woman tried to sound pleasant, or at least pleasant enough to make Angelica walk away and leave her alone.

 

Angelica was having none of it. “You just look a bit distressed,” She pressed.

 

“I’ve just lost my husband is all, I’m sure he’s around here somewhere.”

 

Ah, so that was it. Alexander was her husband. Well.

 

“Are you sure? Most men here aren’t married, though they’d like to be.” Angelica laughed, and the woman tensed even more.

 

“I’m sure. Excuse me--” The woman tried to move past without shoving her. Angelica stood her ground.

 

“Do you need any help?” Angelica asked, subtly moving back in her way.

 

“No. I’m fine.” The woman looked like she was starting to catch on, and tried to push past Angelica again. She once again found herself blocked.

 

The woman’s pleasant facade was fading quickly. “I’m fine,” She said again, more forceful this time.

 

“Are you sure? Don’t you want a drink before you go man-hunting?” Angelica smiled devilishly, no longer fully hiding her intentions.

 

The woman looked about ready to sock her in the mouth, and Angelica briefly wondered if she would actually. “How dare you...he’s my husband!” Several heads turned at the yelling.

 

“Wherever your husband is, he’s not here.” Angelica was not afraid of this woman. In fact, in other circumstances, she might’ve found this act funny.

 

“Why you, I--”

 

“Ms. Schuyler, is everything alright over there?” Someone called out to them from the crowd.

 

“Everything’s fine,” She called back, not taking her eyes off the other. A smirk slowly spread across her face. She knew she had won, and the woman knew it too. If she tried anything, Angelica could just call the alarm and people would be around them in seconds. She was in control.

 

The woman grit her teeth, the fake smile once again sliding onto her face. “...fine. I’ll look somewhere else.” She swiftly turned around, pushing the crowds of people out of her way as she stalked off.

 

Angelica turned around, the four men and her sister gone, of course. She hoped she had distracted her long enough. She didn’t want Eliza to get mixed up in all of this. Jesus, now that that was over, Angelica felt like she was the one that needed a drink. She glanced back at the spot where the woman had disappeared, feeling like she'd gotten involved in something that was very wrong, though she couldn't be sure what exactly it was. She tucked it in the back of her mind, she'd worry about it later.

 

People were still glancing in her direction, and she began to walk around again, noticeably less focused.

  
Until she knew more, Angelica Schuyler would never be satisfied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember that burnout I talked about one, two chapters ago? That was this chapter. I don't think it was even fully my fault, I think it was just something that happened. At one point, I had to make a decision, and I chose quality over quantity. It's still short and not my best work, but it had to get done before the story could move along. And hey, we get to see Angelica in action! Anyway, yadda yadda yadda, the chapter's here now. I'll try to post on my Tumblr the next time this happens. Also, yes, I know that Helpless, Satisfied, and The Story Of Tonight (Reprise) take place during the wedding of Eliza and Alexander AFTER the winter's ball, but I had to take artistic liberties to keep the story coherent, hope you don't mind too much. The next one should be soon, keep an eye on my blog for updates. Cheers!


	9. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Alexander is never told anything.

Alexander did not know how to dance. He attempted to follow Elizabeth’s moves, not knowing what the hell he was getting himself into or what in the world he was doing. He must’ve looked especially nervous and tense, because Elizabeth gave him a smile and whispered, “You’re doing great.”

 

He felt himself glow with pride, and he attempted to spin her. It was disorganized and messy, but he didn’t drop her, and she giggled. It was different than his wife’s laugh, it was lighter and more gentle. Not that his wife wasn’t gentle, of course, but it was...different with Elizabeth.

 

The music begun to speed up, and Alexander tried to keep up. He was becoming increasingly aware that he couldn’t do this. “Elizabeth, I--”

 

“Eliza, please.” Eliza was following the music with ease, helping Alexander with her. They were going a bit slower than the beat, but she didn’t seem to care. What would his wife think if she could see him now, having snuck out to a ball, dancing with another woman?

 

What was worse was that he didn’t want to stop.

 

Alexander was slowly getting into the rhythm, becoming more bold in his movements. He attempted to spin her again, just to show he could. It went better than last time, with Alexander having a better grasp of the move and of Eliza herself.

 

Eliza, having been better prepared for it this time, grinned, with admiration sparkling in her eyes. Alexander faltered. He wasn’t used to seeing that look, especially directed at him, and he felt a warmth spread throughout his body.

 

And then he almost dropped her for a different reason.

 

“Alexander!”

 

The man in question jumped, turning towards the hiss as his three new friends quickly came up to them. 

 

“We have to go right now,” Laurens urged, the panic evident on his face.

 

“Why?” Alexander asked, the worry already from them already starting to leech onto him. Whatever had them this frantic couldn’t be a good thing.

 

“Your-” Mulligan started, before  Lafayette cut him off.

 

“No time, no time, we need to leave.”

 

“There’s an exit over that way,” Eliza supplied, pointing in that direction.

 

Before Alexander could ask anymore questions the three were pushing him in that direction. Eliza took a look around, and then made a choice. She hurried to catch up with the four men.

  
  


“Ms.  Schuyler--” Laurens began.

 

“I’m coming,” Eliza stated firmly, and Alexander looked at her gratefully.

 

Lafayette nodded.  “She can help us find our way around. It’s worth having her.”

 

“We need to get you home.” Mulligan decided to switch the topic back around to what they were doing instead of who they were doing it with. He hadn’t exactly been paying attention to the other topic either.

 

“But why?” Alexander pressed again, and once again the question fell on deaf ears. “Can someone please tell me what’s going on?!” No response. Alexander groaned.

 

Eliza leaned over to him and muttered, “Don’t worry, I don’t know what’s going on either.”

 

“I guess the world may never know.” Alexander sighed, and Eliza laughed a little bit.

 

They were outside now, the air still and cold. There was no one in sight at this hour.

 

“Where do you live?” Laurens urged.

 

“Why do you need to know, what does--” He stopped, realizing and thus accepting that he was never going to get any answers. He relayed the address, sulking as they hurried him down the street.

 

Alexander, noticing that Eliza’s attire was not made for this kind of weather, asked her, “Are you cold?”

 

She shook her head, more focused on the mission at hand than her own being.

 

“Are you sure?”

 

She shook her head again, but found a jacket around her regardless. She looked over at him with surprise. He smiled at her, and she gave a gentle smile back, pulling the jacket closer to her body as she once again looked into his eyes. 

 

She saw that spark. That trampled, dim spark that shouldn’t still be shining, but was. It was still shining, and Eliza finally understood the courage and persistence of this man who was very much alive and strong.

 

They stopped, and Eliza almost ran into the frenchman.

 

“We’re here.”  Lafayette breathed, obviously relieved and having gotten there before something else, though what that was Eliza had no idea.

 

The three looked around, tired but more relaxed than a minute ago.

 

“...can someone tell me what the hell just happened?!” Alexander snapped, having had enough of not knowing.

 

“Your wife-” Lafayette started, before faltering as Laurens glanced at him with a ‘should we really tell him this?’ look.

 

Unfortunately, the seed had been planted. “What...what about my wife?” The previously loud and confident attitude had disappeared, replaced once again by the nervous man that Laurens had met outside what seemed like forever ago.

 

The three glanced at each other. It was Lafayette who finally continued.

 

“She showed up,” He hesitated. “She was looking for you.”

 

Alexander felt the world grow heavier around him. She knew. She knew he snuck out to a ball, she knew that he was dancing with Eliza. She knew. He was sitting on a bench before he’d even remembered sitting down.

 

“It’s alright.” Eliza tried to soothe him quietly, rubbing his back in slow rhythmic circles as she sat beside him.

 

“She didn’t know you were there,” Laurens supplied, trying to be helpful, “She just assumed you were there.”

 

Alexander was no longer listening.

 

“That’s a dick move if you ask me,” Mulligan muttered, causing the other two men and Eliza to send him a warning look.

 

“What? Is there anything I said that wasn’t true?” He countered, growing louder. “She’s an ass, she can’t just assume that if her husband isn’t home after a certain time that gives her the right to go out and manhunt him!”

 

“Herc--” Lafayette began, trying to stop his friend before this turned into more of a disaster than it already was.

 

“It’s like every moment she’s either going to murder him or throw him aside, it’s not fair! He’s never going to see freedom until the day he dies!”

 

“Mulligan--” Laurens tried to stop him as well, this was not helping.

 

“I’m just saying she’s dirty motherfu--”

 

“SHUT UP!!”

 

Everyone’s heads turned to the source of the outburst.

 

“Just...shut up…” Alexander buried his head in his hands. The others were at a loss for words.

 

Eliza finally cut in quietly. “Let’s...let’s go inside, shall we?” She gently helped Alexander to his feet.

 

“I’m...I’m fine…” Alexander said with some difficulty and made his way to the door, refusing to make eye contact with anyone.

 

Lafayette motioned to the others, sensing that their presence was now doing more harm than good. He and Mulligan started back to the ball.

 

Laurens hesitated. “Hey, I’m...I’m sorry that was such an awful experience, I didn’t realize your wife was-” He stopped himself from making the same mistake as his friend, “would do that.”

 

Alexander didn’t respond, and after a minute or two Laurens muttered a final “sorry” and went to go catch up with his friends.

 

Eliza stood and watched him quietly. “...Alexander?”

 

No response.

 

“If you ever need anything--”

 

“I’m fine.” Alexander spoke with a surprisingly cold tone, though his voice wavered.

 

“I know. But if you ever want to talk, all you need to do is send a letter.”

 

Alexander just nodded.

 

Eliza lingered for a few seconds more, then turned and began to walk away. After walking a considerable distance, she realized she still had Alexander’s coat around her. She should have turned around and returned it at that point, but it was so warm, and served as a reminder of sorts. A reminder of that spark. She huddled into it and kept walking.

  
  


Ettie hovered over her sleeping husband’s form for just a bit longer, and then left, quietly closing the door behind her.

 

She knew lying. She knew how to lie, how to see lying, how to tell when someone was hiding something and not telling the full truth.

 

Of course, lying wasn’t always of the tongue. It was of the body as well.

  
No use going to bed until he was actually asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there's (loosely) The Story Of Tonight (Reprise)! It's a long one. I can't think of much to say here, so... cheers!
> 
> (also if you have any ideas for the fandoms to do after this, idk send them to my inbox)


	10. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aaron Burr reflects briefly on the hand he's been given.

Aaron Burr put down his quill down, picked it back up, and put it down again. The only thing on the page was “Dear Theodosia,”

 

He sighed and leaned back. For some reason, the words weren’t coming to him for this one. He still had that feeling. The feeling he was missing out on...something. He didn’t know what.

 

Burr picked up a letter from two days ago and read it again. He had tried describing the feeling to Theodosia, and she had suggested that maybe he was forgetting something.

 

He couldn’t shake the feeling that wasn’t quite right. Like, the world around him was somehow wrong, but he didn’t know how.

 

He groaned. He didn’t like not knowing things, and he felt he needed to know what this was especially. It felt life-changing, even though he didn’t know what it. So what was it? What was it?!

 

...You know what? Burr could wait.

 

He was sure that one day, he’d figure it out. It couldn’t possibly be anything important anyway. He wasn’t falling behind, he’d know one day what it was, but in the meantime there was no use dwelling on it.

 

He picked up his quill and continued writing his letter.

  
He would wait for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Wait for It," the short lil filler chapter! I'm just about to finish up the next chapter as I write this, so I figured I'd go ahead and post this one to tide you over. Originally, this was going to be part of the next chapter, and it was just going to be multiple songs like some of the ones before, but the more I looked at it, the more I liked it as it's own separate chapter or transition. And don't worry, we'll get to see how Alex is doing in the next one, and a certain general may or may not make an appearance for the first time. Cheers (for now)!


	11. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we see the state of affairs everyone's in.

George Washington had never been in such low spirits.

 

What did Congress expect him to do? His troops were starving, and no would sell them things if they didn’t use their damn currency. There was nothing he could do, and he was forced to face the very real possibility...

 

There was a chance America could lose this war.

 

He dismissed the thought. No use playing out that possibly in his mind. Not again.

 

“We have to outlast them.” He spoke to the air, alone in his tent. “Don’t engage, strike by night.”

 

He wished he had more help but, as it were...

 

“We just need to make it impossible for them to continue.”

 

He left the tent.

  
  


Alexander scowled at the letter from Laurens. Someone making such comments of the general like that was unacceptable, and he even though he knew it would never happen, he made the point of writing back that he’d totally shoot the general in the face for that, my god.

 

He wasn’t exactly sure when the exchange of letters between him and Laurens had become a regular thing, but talking with him and drinking up updates from the war was Alexander’s second guiltiest pleasure.

 

His guiltiest was even worse, his guiltiest was sending letters to Eliza.

 

Alexander knew he shouldn’t, but he couldn’t help it. She and her sister were the most compelling women he’d ever m-- Of course. His wife. Of course.

 

But as much as he shouldn’t want to talk to her, the fact couldn’t be denied that he wanted to talk to her. He wanted to share with the moments in her life just as much as he wanted to share in the war, maybe even more.

 

He sighed-- and upon hearing footsteps started scrambling and shoving papers off and into his desk as the door opened.

 

“Alexander! What are you doing? You’ve been in here for hours.”

 

“I--uh---nothing! I mean--”

 

Ettie crossed her arms and was obviously not buying it. “You don’t sit in an office all day and do nothing.”

 

He almost cringed. It was only two hours! Couldn’t he have two hours without-- never mind. Alexander shook his head. She was right. She was always right. “I...was writing…”

 

“About what?”

 

Moment of truth. Time to come clean, time to--

 

“...A diary. I’ve started a diary.”

 

Or not.

 

Ettie rolled her eyes. “About what, sitting alone in your office?”

 

He laughed weakly. “Yeah, I guess so.” He didn’t meet her eyes.

 

“...well, as long as you come out for dinner, I suppose it’s fine.”

 

“Y-yes, dear…”

 

She took one last look at him, like she was scanning him, and left, closing the door behind her.

 

Alexander waited and then took out the papers, but all the energy to do anything with them was gone, and he didn’t feel like psyching himself up to try it again.

 

So instead, he just laid his head on his desk and watched the candle flicker.

 

“Laurens,” He muttered, sounding tired and lonely, “do not throw away your shot.”

  
  


John Laurens’ eyes skimmed over the letter, breaking into an unconscious smile. Looks like Alex hated Lee as much as everyone else did. That smile grew even wider when Alex mentioned shooting the general to show him a lesson, and he would totally do it...if he was a braver soul, of course.

 

He wished Alex were here with him. Lafayette was busy trying to get France to do something to help, and Hercules had gone back to New York, so Laurens was alone and desperately wanted someone to play around with. If he could, he would march down there and wrench Alexander from that ghoul of a wife, and Alex could replace goddamned Charles Lee. Something told him that Alex would be good at it. Or at the very least, better than their shit-fuck of a general.

 

Damn, it was late. Laurens would write a reply tomorrow, he was dead tired and had more essays to write without having the burden of having stayed up all night weighing him down.

 

As he lay there in the dark, alone, he thought about dueling the general again, and he chuckled. He slowly closed his eyes, and counted down.

 

1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9, 10 paces.

 

Fire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stay Alive and Ten Dual Commandments!
> 
> I have nothing else to say here and I'm tired and hungry-
> 
> Cheers!


	12. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Alexander has a dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there! Sorry about the lack of updates, I've been swamped with school and exams. A few more weeks and I'll be home clear! Updates should pick up then. Cheers!

Alexander Hamilton had a dream that night.

 

He blinked as the man in front of him staggered. “Lee, do you yield?!” He shouted before he even knew what he was talking about or what was happening.

“You shot him in the side, of course he yields!” Alexander recognized Aaron Burr as the one shouting at them from across the field.

He supposed that explained what happened.

“Well, I’m satisfied.”

Alexander quickly turned to his right, to the source of the voice, facing a smirking John Laurens. He was starting to put the pieces together. Laurens had a gun in his hand. Charles Lee had a bullet in his side. Of course, they’d dueled Charles Lee, with the outcome staring at him in the face. Well, glaring at him from a few yards away.

Burr said something, something about clearing the field and making sure Lee wasn’t dying, Alexander wasn’t listening.

“We won!” Alexander beamed over at Laurens, but Laurens was looking at something behind them.

“Oh shit--”

Alexander turned to look just as Burr sighed, “Oh, this should be fun.”

It was the general. George Washington himself.

“What is the meaning of this?!”

Alexander hadn’t ever seen the general in person, but he still felt some sense of guilt and panic at the general getting angry at him, like maybe he’d looked up to this man. Or maybe it was just a reflex from when another person got rightfully angry at him.

Alexander looked uneasily at Laurens. He didn’t quite know what events had led up to this moment, but their actions were clearly visible, and they were in so, so much trouble. Before Laurens could even begin to explain the general spoke again.

“Mr. Burr, get a medic for the general.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Lee, you’ll never agree with me, but believe me when I say, these young men don’t speak for me. Thank you for your service.”

As Burr and Lee rode away, Alexander thought he felt the world spin a little. Laurens was looking nervously at the general, and Alexander could read his thought process clearly. ‘There is no way we’re going to get away with this.’

“Hamilton!”

The shout was so sudden Alexander wasn’t sure if it actually happened or not. Suddenly the George Washington’s eyes were on him, and he froze up. He hated being shouted at. After a few of the the longest seconds of his life, he managed to stutter out, “S-Sir?”

“Meet me inside.”

Alexander looked at Laurens, who looked back at him with pity. The realization hit him, Laurens was not going to be punished. It was just him right now.

He once again felt a familiar sense of loneliness. A deep breath. This was familiar. He was used to this. He could do this.

 

Entering the tent only made Alexander want to scurry back out. Before he could decide if he wanted to do that though, eyes were already on him and the general was speaking.

“Son--”

Alexander’s response was immediate. “Don’t call me son.” He cringed a bit. What was he thinking?! No matter his feelings on the matter, he couldn’t just talk back like that!

Thank the lords above, the general seemed to ignore it. “This war is hard enough without infighting--”

“Lee called you out, we called his bluff!” And there he went again! Why couldn’t he just shut up?! Why didn’t he want to shut up…?

“You solve nothing, you aggravate our allies to the south!” The general was obviously getting more and more annoyed at him by the second. It was almost too late to turn back at this point.

“You’re absolutely right, John should’ve shot him like Conway, that would’ve shut ‘im up.”

It was too late to turn back at this point.

“Son--”

“I’m not your son--”

“Watch your tone, I am not a maiden in need of defending--”

“Charles Lee, Thomas Conway, they take your name and rake it through the mud.” Alexander spat the last word with a venom he didn’t know existed inside him until that moment. All this overlapping was giving him a rush, but once in his life he wasn’t berated for it. Yes, okay, he was sort of being berated right now, but not because he was speaking his mind.

He was talking over people, speaking his mind, being involved, all the things he wasn’t supposed to do. And he was loving every second of it.

“My name’s been through a lot, I can take it.”

“Well, I don’t have your name, your titles, or your land, but if you--”

“No--” Washington was shooting him down already, but it was too late, Alexander was so giddy at finally getting a chance to speak that nothing that was of this world could stop him.

“But if you gave me command of a battalion, a...a group of men to lead, I could fly above my station after the war!” He wanted to do as much as he could. He wanted to do everything. He wanted to do something. Anything.

“Or you could die! We need you alive!”

“I am more than willing to die!” That was out of his mouth before he could even decide if it was true or not. It was like he wasn’t in control, but somehow he was saying exactly what he wanted to say. He was more than willing to die to show his service, to make a difference.

“Your wife needs you alive!”

Alexander’s stomach turned as his wife once again occupied his mind. His energy, which had been only building up to this moment, came crashing down around him as he heard an echo of “You can’t go off and fight, you have a family now.”

And then he started to get angry. Really angry. Angry and frustrated. He’d spent all that time to get to New York, to this very moment, and what did it lead to? Nothing. It led to nothing. His father left them, his mother died, and for what? Nothing. And it made him angry. He’d had enough.

“Son, I need you alive--”

“Call me son one more time!”

There was a pause, and Alexander’s heartbeat rang in his ears. The general’s surprised face gave Alexander all the guilt he would have needed. He opened his mouth to apologize, as he was used to doing.

“Go home, Alexander.”

He froze.

“That’s an order from your commander.”

“Sir--” All his energy was gone, he just looked and sounded desperate.

“Go home.”

 

Alexander bolted upright in the bed, disoriented and panicked.

Ettie, as if on cue, opened one of her eyes. “Darling? Is something the matter?”

Her husband looked over at her, an odd look passing over his face. “No...everything’s fine…”

“Did you have a bad dream?”

“Y...yeah, I think…”

“What about?”

He thought for a moment. “I...I don’t remember…” What did he dream about again…?

Ettie smiled. “Back to sleep, then.”

“R...right.” He lay back down, and simply stared at the ceiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: "Whew! Finally finished with Meet Me Inside! It was a bit tense but I'm sure that for the next chapter I'll be able to write a nice fluffy chapter to give my readers a nice bre--"  
> *The next chapter is That Would Be Enough. It will be sad. There are no breaks.*


	13. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Alexander gets something he didn't know he needed.

“Eliza,” Alexander panted as he ran after her, “I’m not sure this is a good idea!” God, how was that woman so fast? She was wearing a dress!

“Keep up!” She called back at him, not really answering his concerns at all, if anything seeming to move faster. Where the hell were they going that they had to run like the wind to get there?

Eliza had called on him in secret, telling him that she wanted to show him something. If there was one word that made Alexander anxious, it was “secret.”

“Seriously! Can’t this wait until morning?”

“They aren’t out in the morning!”

“Since when is something not out in the morning?!”

“Just hurry!”

“I’m hurrying!”

Eliza huffed, and then laughed, and for the millionth time since going out that night Alexander couldn’t help but admire the woman running in front of him. She was so relaxed and sweet, it made his heart hurt just thinking about it. How was she so calm? So free?

Alexander, for his part, was probably panicking enough for the both of them.

He trusted this woman, though. He most certainly should not have, but he did, which was probably the reason why it had been so easy for her to convince him. He kept repeating in his head what she’s said to him, the final thing to get him out of the house.

_“Aren’t we just so lucky to be alive in this moment?”_

Somehow, he’d ended up here, with her. Which, he admitted, was infinitely better than being alone, but the dread of having to eventually go home was slowly rising in his gut.

“Here we are!” Eliza smiled, gesturing around her.

“Eliza, this is a hill.”

The normally reserved and polite man couldn’t help but be unimpressed. This was indeed a hill, like so many other hills before it. He didn’t consider it a really worthwhile “let’s sneak Alex out of his house and away from his wife” reason. He could picture it now, Ettie finding out as usual and asking where he was, and he would have no choice but to explain that he snuck out to see a hill. It was enough to make him shiver with fear.

He was about to make some excuse about why he had to go home right away, before Eliza interrupted his train of thought.

She laughed. “Well, yes, but you have to look up!” She pointed above them, and the moment Alexander’s eyes followed her gesture all thoughts of going back to his house vanished from his mind.

Stars.

So many stars.

It was like the sky was alive, shining and sparkling with millions of tiny lights swirled around each other, created patterns and colors, it like a whole other universe above their heads, right there.

“Wow...” He was awestruck, not even noticing Eliza gently pushing him to sit on the ground beside her.

Both of them simply watched the sky for a couple of minutes, before Eliza quietly started talking.

“I like to come here to get away from everything. It’s like it’s only you and the stars, isn’t it?”

Her words seemed to float over the wind, making the air ever more sweet. Alexander was pretty sure only Eliza could do that, make the world more breathable by just talking.

She continued after a moment’s pause. “I won’t pretend to know what your life is like, or what your mind is like, but as long as you make it through...I think that would be enough for me.”

In a way, maybe that was what Alexander wanted to hear all his life. That something he did was enough for someone. That he was somehow important, even without doing something history changing. He was still important. Every bone in his body rejected the notion, but somehow, some part of him may have believed it.

Maybe that one part was plenty.

“It’s beautiful,” he finally muttered. An understatement, but no words in the human language could describe what he was seeing, what he was feeling. Nothing could describe this.

He didn’t know what would come next. Tomorrow. A year from now. For a moment, though, for this one moment, everything was okay.

“We’re so lucky to be alive,” he heard himself whisper.

An eternity and then some passed.

  
  


Eliza wasn’t watching the stars. They were beautiful, but not as beautiful as the man sitting beside her looked watching them.

He was smiling.

It wasn’t an energetic smile, like Peggy had, or the sly smile that Angelica had when she knew she was right. No, this was Eliza’s favorite smile, a kind that was more dear to her than any of the others.

It was a peaceful smile.

The kind of smile that people only get when they’re happy within their own minds, when everything goes quiet and life is temporarily remembered as being absolutely worth living.

She had seen Alex smile before, but she had never seen him _smile_ before. It was far better than any star that any sky could give to her.

That was the moment that she knew something very important. She couldn’t explain how, but she knew one thing was absolutely certain.

Alexander Hamilton would be okay. There were hard times ahead, but somehow, inexplicably, he would come out of them.

He would stay alive.

And that was enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh, I know I promised sad, but I'm a sucker for the bittersweet.
> 
> You all thought I'd forgotten about this? You thought I would just leave this unfinished? Nope! It may be a shorter chapter, but welcome back to the story, as the plot continues on! Next chapter, we'll check in with our favorite fighting Frenchman and the state of the war. Stay tuned!


End file.
